Construction union UCATT have warmly welcomed the tabling of a new Bill which if passed would crackdown on illegal gangmasters operating in the construction industry.

On Wednesday 10 June, Jim Sheridan Labour MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, won a first reading for a 10 minute Rule Bill, which seeks to extend the Gangmasters Licensing Act to cover construction. Mr Sheridan is the leading parliamentary campaigner on gangmasters; it was his original Bill, which brought the GLA into being.

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In recent years there has been a huge increase in gangmaster and employment agency activity in the construction industry. This has led to workers receiving low pay, being forced to work excessive hours, poor safety conditions, being charged extortionate rates for substandard accommodation and an increase in threats and intimidation on construction sites.

UCATT have developed a large dossier on gangmaster abuses. In the worst case UCATT discovered workers on a PFI hospital site in Nottinghamshire being paid just £8.80 a week.

Alan Ritchie, General Secretary of UCATT, said: "If we are going to tackle exploitation and casualisation in the construction industry, it is essential that gangmasters are properly licensed and policed. It is important that the Government recognises the ongoing injustices which construction workers face and back this Bill."

(CD/JM)